The UAE's Stargate project hints at how AI can be integrated into national infrastructure

As we look to the world’s future, it is especially crucial at this time that we also look to its past. In doing so, we can see that each era of industrial transformation has been defined by a frontier technology that reshaped the global balance of power. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one such technology.

In the first industrial revolution, it was steam power and mechanized manufacturing. The second brought electricity, assembly lines and scale. The third ushered in digital computing and the internet. In every case, the nations that secured and embedded these systems into their development strategies became economic powerhouses. Those that failed to adapt were left structurally dependent – reliant on external infrastructure, vulnerable to foreign policy shifts and constrained in how they could define their futures.

We are now nearly fully immersed in the fourth industrial age and the new strategic frontier is AI. The stakes in this age cut across economic, geopolitical and societal lines. AI is fast becoming a foundational utility; a system of systems that underpins everything, from national security to healthcare, financial markets to education. For economies seeking relevance and resilience in the 21st century, the question is not whether to invest in AI, but how to do so in a way that preserves agency, safeguards equity and builds future-ready infrastructure.

Abu Dhabi’s Stargate project offers an early glimpse into what this could look like. Developed through a partnership between the UAE government and OpenAI, Stargate is a 1-gigawatt AI supercomputing cluster, designed to host large models and to anchor sovereign capacity. The scale is significant, but so is the framing: this is not just a data centre, it is national infrastructure.

Treating AI as infrastructure means recognizing it as essential as roads, power grids or water systems. It moves the conversation beyond regulation and innovation towards foundational capacity. This shift in mindset opens up new policy questions: who owns and governs AI infrastructure? Who has access? How are benefits and risks distributed? And, critically, how can nations avoid being locked into systems they do not control?

The analogy to energy systems is useful. Just as the countries that built national grids gained long-term control over pricing, access and development, those investing in AI infrastructure are positioning themselves to shape how intelligence is distributed across sectors. Without this, dependency on foreign platforms and private models could become entrenched, with local priorities sidelined.

The Stargate initiative reflects a broader ambition: to build sovereign AI capacity that supports national strategic goals. For the UAE, this includes economic diversification and geopolitical positioning. But the implications extend beyond the Gulf. For many emerging economies, AI sovereignty is not just about competitiveness, it is about inclusion. It is about whether health algorithms reflect local disease burdens; whether agricultural systems speak local languages; and whether educational platforms embed local knowledge.

By building capacity at the infrastructure level, countries can begin to rewire their digital ecosystems from the ground up. This does not mean rejecting global models or international collaboration. It means investing in the ability to adapt, localize and govern those models in context.

Just as control over ports, pipelines and fibre cables has long been a form of geopolitical leverage, so too is the control of AI infrastructure. Nations that can build and export foundational models, host large-scale compute capacity and shape global standards will hold asymmetric power. The soft power of AI infrastructure, from preferred platforms to embedded norms, is already influencing global alliances.

This also opens up space for new players. Countries that were previously peripheral to tech diplomacy are now stepping into the fold by making strategic infrastructure plays. These are not only economic bets, they are statements of intent. They signal a commitment to shaping the terms of engagement in the AI era.

For developing nations, the idea of AI infrastructure may seem distant, especially where connectivity and data availability remain barriers. But the infrastructure-first lens can be empowering. It encourages long-term planning over short-term fixes. It shifts policy from procurement to capacity-building. It offers a path to leapfrog, not just adopt.

Already, we see early signals: Rwanda's investment in AI training through its Centres of Excellence; Senegal's national data strategy; and Indonesia's efforts to integrate AI into public services. These are not Stargate-scale initiatives, but they reflect the same logic: to own more of the stack and to build governance models rooted in local context.

Of course, infrastructure without governance can replicate and even deepen existing inequalities. That is why investment must be matched by public standards (that hold). As nations build out their AI capabilities, the guardrails must be clear: transparency, interoperability, data protection and algorithmic fairness should not be afterthoughts.

In this regard, global cooperation remains essential. Shared ethical frameworks, such as those inspired by the Hiroshima AI Process, can help align values without erasing context. But national infrastructure must also be accountable to national communities; this requires a new governance compact, perhaps one that involves public institutions, local researchers, civil society and historically excluded voices.

The fourth industrial revolution is not a spectator sport and should not be treated as such. Countries that wait for models to arrive will inherit their capabilities and their constraints. Those that invest in sovereign infrastructure, backed by clear standards and inclusive governance, can better shape their own futures.

Abu Dhabi’s Stargate project is a good example. It shows that AI need not always be outsourced, because infrastructure can be built by any nation. It shows that sovereignty is still possible and that the countries bold enough to act may find themselves not catching up, but helping to define what comes next, even on a global scale.